Iseq climbs 4 per cent

The Iseq index of Irish shares climbed almost 4 per cent today, outperforming the major European stock markets, as leading stocks CRH, Ryanair and Elan all made gains.

Building materials group CRH rose 3.8 per cent to €18.60, after US home improvement retailer Lowe's, a major customer of CRH's architectural products group, posted better than expected first-quarter results overnight.

Elan jumped more than 6 per cent to €5.26 after it was reported that the average number of new patients of its drug Tysabri had increased to more than 200 per week in March and April.

Shareholders reacted positively to the announcement of Bank of Ireland's full-year results and its plan to buy back bonds. The bank's share price surged nearly 30 per cent in morning trade and held onto most of that gain during the day, closing up 24 per cent at €1.33.

The gains had spillover effects on the other banking stocks, with AIB rising 7.4 per cent to €1.16 and Irish Life & Permanent also finishing up 7 per cent at €3.00.

Internationally, a mixed bag of economic news took turns to either drag or boost markets. New housing numbers in the US fell unexpectedly to a record low in April, according to new data, but in Germany, the ZEW investor confidence indicator rose higher than economists' forecasts.

Independent News & Media gained 1 cent to close at 28 cent. The company's Australian subsidiary, APN, has announced that it intends to raise A$99 million in new equity on the basis of a one-for-five offer, but IN&M will not participate.

Elsewhere, there were gains for Smurfit Kappa, Kingspan, Grafton, Greencore and United Drug, among others, while C&C, Glanbia and Dragon Oil lost ground.